A Tale of Two Sisters
by Raven A. Evans
Summary: Natasha has a younger sister by ten years whom she has thought dead for over half a century. What happens when her sister is very much alive? What does this mean for Natasha? And how will the rest of the team and company deal with a younger version of the Black Widow? Bad summary, I know, but the story's really good! Rated T for language.
1. Prologue: Secrets are Revealed

A/N: This is my first story, so please no flames! Constructive criticism would be nice, though!  
**I've decided to revamp my story as I saw a lot of rough patches in the old version. So, here's the new and improved version of ****_A Tale of Two Sisters_****!**

_June 20__th__, 1938 _

_A house in Stalingrad, USSR_

Screams continued to come from her parents' bedroom. Natalia (Natasha to her family) Alianovna Romonova winced and rubbed her eyes tiredly. The household had been woken by her mother's screams of pain and her father's frantic search for a doctor in the early morning. The ten-year old was anxious to meet her new little sister or brother. She also worried about her mother; it wasn't easy giving birth after ten years. Finally the screams stopped and a loud wail issued from the room. Natasha jumped up, and then ran towards the room. Poking her head in the door, Natasha could see the doctor cleaning up and her parents were sitting next to each other on the bed. In her mother's arms, she could see a small bundle of pink. Her mother spotted her and beckoned her to come over.

"Natasha? Come in and say hello to your new sister."

Natasha walked over to the bed and her mother lowered her little sister so she could see.

"What's her name?" She whispered, stroking the baby's cheek.

"Yekaterina Alianovna Romonova. Katya for short," her father answered. Just then, Katya opened her eyes sleepily. Natasha was surprised, to say the least. Katya had the exact same shade of amethyst purple eyes as her mother. Katya yawned, and went back to sleep. Natasha brushed the dark red hair that was apparent in the family.

"She's wonderful," Natasha breathed.

"Yes, she is, isn't she?" Her mother said. She started to hum a familiar tune.

_On the wind, cross the sea_

_Hear this song and remember._

_Soon you'll be, home with me._

_Once upon a December_

Once the song was done, Natasha kissed Katya and her mother on the cheeks and hugged her father. She returned to her room to catch up on her sleep. Right before she fell asleep, Natasha sent up a prayer for her family's health and fortune.

_74 years and an alien invasion later, New York City, Avengers Tower_

That wish never came true. Two days after Katya's birth, Germany invaded Russia. In August, the Nazis arrived on the outskirts of Stalingrad and the Battle of Stalingrad started. During one of the bombing raids, one of the houses on their street was bombed and all the other houses caught fire. Natasha herself was saved from the fire by Ivan Petrovitch. Her parents and Katya weren't so lucky. Natasha has long given up on finding them alive and has buried her grief and survivor's guilt behind impenetrable walls. The only other person who knows is Nick Fury. And he respects, and fears, Natasha enough to not question her about it. The only acknowledgement Fury gives her is the mandatory break for her on June 20th, Katya's birthday. Natasha pushes these thoughts from her head and looks out over the New York City skyline. She sips her vodka, turning her thoughts to the aftermath of the alien invasion. After Loki's attempt to take over the world, Thor took Loki back to Asgard. As punishment and a chance at redemption, Odin sent Loki back with Thor to help with reconstructing New York City. None of them, especially Clint, were happy about this. However, Thor begged them to give him a chance. Surprisingly, Natasha was the first one to extend the hand of friendship. After that, the others gradually came to accept Loki as one of them. Loki earned Clint's friendship and respect when the former dealt with some of the name-calling and rumors about Barton's involvement that had spread throughout SHIELD headquarters and the Helicarrier after the invasion.

The sun is poking through the skyscrapers when Natasha finishes her drink and starts making breakfast. Letting her hands go on autopilot, she casts her eyes over the various pictures on the wall. There are 4 couple shots; Steve and Tony; Clint and Coulson; and Bruce and her. Tony tried to push Pepper on to Loki, but that backfired on him, seeing as how the two are really good friends now. Currently, Pepper is dating Rhodey, Tony's friend. Tony repeatedly tried to set Loki up with blind dates, but the God of Mischief always wormed his way out of it. There was also a team photo underneath the couple pictures. It shows all the Avengers as well as Loki, Pepper and Rhodey. Looking at the picture, Natasha feels a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Turning her head towards the stove, she finds that she had made her mother's favorite breakfast: eggs and bacon with a side of _bliny_ and a glass of milk. The redhead feels her eyes tear up, she hasn't made that breakfast in nearly 3 decades, afraid that it would bring up painful memories. She thinks about throwing the dish out, but decided that it was wasteful. She settles for eating it; by the time the boys are up, it would be too cold to eat. By the time she's done, the sun is well over the skyscrapers and Clint and Phil have shown their sleepy faces in the kitchen.

"Natasha? What are you doing up so early?" Phil asked around a yawn.

"Yeah, isn't today your mandatory break day?" Clint was suspicious. _'Come to think of it, she's always up earlier than she really needs to be and her eyes are always a little bit red every year on this day,'_ he thought.

"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to watch the sunrise," Natasha said. She always offered a variant of that reason every year. Besides, it wasn't an outright lie, more of a lozh' vo spaseniye, a white lie. Clint sensed that she doesn't want to talk about, so he gives Phil a look and both men clam up. Phil makes Natasha a cup of tea and she murmurs her thanks. Slowly, the other Avengers (for future reference, Loki is officially part of the Avengers team), Jane, Pepper and Rhodey come in. Like Clint and Phil, Loki and Bruce notice Natasha's strange behavior; unlike them, they don't comment. She'll talk when she's ready. As the sounds of a typical morning fill the air, Natasha flips through the news channel. Suddenly, JARVIS says, "Sir, Director Fury wants to see everybody."

"Really, this early in the morning? Fine, let him up," Tony complains. Minutes later, the elevator doors open to reveal Nick Fury, director of SHEILD. Everybody sits up straighter.

"Agent Romanov, you're going to want to see this," Fury says walking over to the dining table. Natasha is curious, isn't this her day off? Fury sees the question in her eyes and cuts to the chase, "We've found her. We've found Katya."


	2. Saving Katya: Part 1

A/N: Whoa! I didn't really think this story would get ANY followers or favorites. But, you guys have certainly proved me wrong! This chapter is dedicated to you guys!

**I'm just going to give an overall disclaimer, 'cause I really don't want to do this over and over again. So here goes, I don't own ANY of the characters from Marvel's The Avengers, Thor or the Iron Man series. Likewise, I also don't own any songs that may appear in this story. They all belong to their respectful owners. **

_"We've found her. We've found Katya."_

Natasha feels her world has narrowed to that one sentence. _'Katya. She's not dead, how is she not dead?! I saw the house burn down with my own eyes!'_ Natasha sways and grabs the back of Bruce's chair for support. She feels her face drain of the little color it had gained over the course of the morning. Judging by the looks on the faces of everybody from Rhodey and Pepper to Bruce, she must look like a ghost.

"Natasha, what's wrong? Who's Katya?" Bruce asks anxiously. Natasha just closes her eyes, letting the tears slide down her cheeks. As the pain and grief of over half a century rolls over her, she hears Phil's voice as if from afar.

"Director, what's going on?" He is worried about Natasha. Neither he, nor Clint has ever seen Natasha this open with her emotions before and they've known her the longest.

Fury sighed, "Yekaterina Alianovna Romanova is Agent Romanov's younger sister by 10 years. She was supposedly killed in the fire along with their parents. However, we've recently found evidence that Katya DIDN'T die in the fire but, rather Red Room saved her. They put her in a separate program called The Oriental and injected her with the Super Soldier Serum. Our inside man tells us that for the past 74 years, they've been training Katya as a backup Black Widow, nicknamed the Cobra. However, ever since Agent Romanov defected, they've started to torture her. We think that they're thinking if Katya's tortured enough, she won't dare defect like her older sister."

Tony snorted, but his eyes look pained. He looks at Natasha. During Fury's explanation, she kept her eyes closed and struggled to keep her emotions in check. Pain and grief flashed through her face and were replaced by outrage. Once Fury is done, Bruce turns to face Natasha and asks, "Why didn't you tell us any of this?" He sounds more curious than angry but, Natasha can still hear it.

She opens her eyes, full of pain and grief, "Because I never wanted any of you to know that the darkest and biggest smear in my ledger was that of my sister's. She was only a baby and I promised myself that I would be the best big sister ever to her. I broke that promise the night of the bombing raid." She takes a shuddering breath, trying to keep the tears in, but a few tears still escape, sliding down her cheeks. Bruce cups her cheek and brushes the tears away with his thumb. Pepper and Jane are wiping away tears at this point and even Loki looks outraged.

"Where is she, Director?" Steve asks. His eyes are bright with unshed tears and his hands are clenched in anger.

"Yekaterinburg. Under the Ipatiev House, there is a second cellar that Yeltsin didn't know about. After the Church on Blood in Honour of All Saints Resplendent in the Russian Land (The Church on Blood for short) was built, the KGB transferred Katya to the underground cellar. She's been there for the past nine years." Natasha, by this time, is so stiff she doesn't think she'll ever relax again. Her eyes are glinting with anger and pain.

"Those ублюдки* put her under Храм на Крови*?!" Everybody is worried now. Natasha doesn't usually use Russian unless she is SERIOUSLY ticked off about something. "When do we leave?" she growls.

"In half an hour," Fury answers. He hands her the manila folder he had brought with him and squeezes her shoulder. He nods to the others and leaves the tower. Seeing Natasha's legs about give out from beneath her, Bruce quickly gets up and gently pushes her into the seat. Her hands shaking, Natasha puts the folder on the table and opens it. The team quickly gathers around and starts to read the contents.

It turns out that not only is there a cellar below the Church on Blood, but there is also a massive network of passages, crisscrossing each other and weaving throughout the whole city. The passages lead to almost all of the major cities, including the St. Nicholas monastery where the remains of the royal family are found. The main entrance is the Church on Blood itself; there is a secret door in one of the mosaics. There used to be a bunch of guards and scientists along with dozens of other political prisoners and cooks underground with Katya, but the scientists, political prisoners and cooks recently either disappeared or were transferred, leaving only the guards and Katya underground.

They concocted a plan in ten minutes; Natasha, Clint, and Loki would go through the entrance at the St. Nicholas monastery while Thor, Tony, Steve and Bruce would go through main entrance. At the end of the debriefing, Phil reminds everyone that this was a rescue mission, anybody who wanted out was welcome to come; anybody who stood in their way would be left behind.

As they walk to the landing pad, Natasha warns the boys, "Just please remember guys, don't walk in there all decked out in your superhero clothes. We don't need the extra attention. And don't you guys DARE damage ANYTHING. There would be a great number of people outraged and crying sacrilege if you guys did that."

"Ahh, Nat, don't you trust us?"

"I trust you about as far as I can throw you, Stark," Natasha retorts. She turns to Bruce and Steve, "Bruce, Steve, please make sure that he doesn't damage anything." Both men nod. They arrive at the landing pad.

"Be safe, all of you. If any of you got hurt, I don't think the four of us would be very appreciative," Pepper warns.

"Don't worry; we'll be home before you know it."

A/N 1: Ok, so the ACTUAL rescue WILL be happening next. I just had to lay down the groundwork for it in here. As always, please leave reviews and constructive criticisms! They make me happy and the more I'm happy, the faster I'll try to get the story updated.

A/N 2: The Church on Blood and the St. Nicholas monastery are real. Google it if you don't believe me. I actually don't know if there ARE interconnecting secret passages underneath all the major cities. That's purely my own creation.

A/N 3: Here are the translations for those curses Natasha used in this chapter.

*ублюдки- Bastards

* Храм на Крови- The Church on Blood


	3. Saving Katya: Part 2

A/N: Thank you guys for hanging with this story! I'm sorry that I haven't updated in so long and I promise to have super-long chapters as early Christmas gifts!

The ride takes forever, or so it seems to Natasha. Agent Green had volunteered to pilot them to Yekaterinburg. The Avengers sit in their seats and talk quietly. Tony is flipping through the folder again, trying to find some photos of Katya. Finally, he closes the folder in frustration.

"What's wrong?" Steve asks.

"Nothing, I just wanted to see if there was a picture of Katya in there," He sighs. He understands that Natasha feels that this girl really was Katya, but Fury wasn't the most trustworthy person ever. Maybe they could do a DNA test on the girl when they got back to HQ.

"She has crimson red hair with amethyst purple eyes. Other than that, she looks like me. Pale skin, small nose, everything." Natasha says simply. She refuses to let her emotions get the better of her now, not when Katya depended on her older sister keeping her cool.

"Oh," Tony says. He's quiet for the rest of the trip. Bruce takes Natasha's hand and rubs it comfortingly. They soon arrive at the St. Nicholas monastery, where Clint, Natasha and Loki get off. The others continue on to a spot 10 miles outside of Yekaterinburg, where Green drops them off. Before leaving the quinjet, Loki makes sure to cast a glamour spell on Tony, Steve and Thor to hide their Avengers get-up. All they need to deactivate the glamour spell is think of their hero suit. Bruce, Tony, Steve and Thor walk across the city, acting like tourists, before finding the Church on Blood. As the four men are walking across the plaza in front of the Church, Natasha, Clint and Loki are making remarkable progress. After having quickly found the entrance to the tunnel at the base of the altar, Loki shields them and they enter the passage. Loki spelled their feet to walk really fast and after only 15 minutes, they find themselves in front of a wooden door.

"That seemed a bit too easy," Clint remarks. His two companions are in agreement as well. The passages should've been more confusing, but they account it to the fact that they probably hadn't factored in Asgardian magic. Natasha opens the door, gun at the ready. Nobody was on the opposite side, and the three quickly make their way down the passage. The Quick-travel spell had already worn off by this time. As they turn a corner, they can hear sounds of heavy footsteps. Natasha motions for them to flatten themselves against the wall. As the group passes them, Natasha sees a glint of metal reflecting off of the torch's light that the men carry. _Guards._ After they can no longer hear the footsteps, they continue to make their way to Katya's cell. According to the maps in the folder, her cell would be directly under the spot where their relatives were killed. Soon, they hear another group of heavy footsteps; Natasha gets ready when Loki stops her.

"It's Thor."

"You're sure?" Clint whispers. Soon enough, Thor, Steve, Tony and Bruce walk up to them.

"Hey," Tony says. Natasha would like to reprimand them on not walking more quietly but, decides not to. She motions for them to continue. After ten minutes of winding passages and no other close calls, they reach Katya's cell. After listening quietly at the door, Natasha works quickly to pick the lock on the metal door. Two minutes and a few whispered curses later, she gets the door open. Opening the door slowly, she looks into the room that Katya was in for the past 9 years. A small, metal room that's bare of almost everything except a wooden wardrobe next to the door and a metal bed with a thin mattress and a threadbare blanket on top of it. Shivering underneath the blanket is a small person, girl, with crimson red hair.

"Katya!"

"Natasha, wait!" After checking to make sure that the room is clear of traps and cameras, Clint lets Natasha go to Katya. She hurries over and turns her over carefully. She gasps loudly. The girl's eyes are open wide with fever and they're a deep amethyst purple. Loki walks over, with the others taking up lookout positions. He checks Katya over with his magic. As the green light of his magic fades, he reports,

"Besides the obvious physical injuries, she has 3 cracked ribs, internal bleeding in her legs and a high fever. She is also severely underfed."

"We need to get her out, now," Steve says, taking position of commander, "Clint and Natasha, you two will scout for guards. Tony and Thor, you guys pick off any guards that get past Clint and Natasha. Bruce outfit, stay close to Loki and me and don't Hulk out unless necessary. Loki, do you need to stay in contact with Katya?" Loki nods, "All right, then, let Katya piggyback ride you. I'll bring up the rear. Are we good? Right, let's go then." The team leaves in that formation. They make it out to the outer passages before having to fight with some of the guards. Natasha and Clint flip and punch their way through, leaving a path of unconscious and injured guards in their wake. The rest of the team follows. Soon, they see the passage that will take them to Moscow. However, as soon as the passage is close enough to touch, a group of guards step out from the shadows. The guards all wear standard brown uniforms with a red star on the right breast. In the center of the circle, there's a small man dressed in a Soviet army. He steps out into the light and Natasha recognizes him instantly.

"Boris, сволочь! What have you done to Katya?" she growls.

"Oh, nothing too harmful. I've just made sure that she will never defect like you," he smirks.

Natasha suddenly snarls, and deals several guards fatal blows to their heads. As she kicks and punches her way through to Boris, Clinton, Loki and Captain America pick off the guards who get through Natasha. As the others are fighting, Natasha personally deals with Boris. She breaks several bones in his body then injects him with a slow, painful and fatal poison. They leave him writhing on the ground in pain. Suddenly, a rumbling noise fills the tunnel and Bruce sees a burst of fire speed its way toward them.

"Run!" Loki makes a sign with his hand and suddenly, all of them are on the Quickening spell and traveling at 50 miles per hour with the trail of fire following them. In ten hours, they finally reach Moscow, right under the Red Square, with the blast of fire closely following them.

"What kind of fire IS that?" Tony asks.

"I don't know WHAT it is, but I have no desire to find out!" Steve says, "Bruce, if you would do the honors?" Bruce nods and transforms into the Hulk. Roaring, he breaks ground, jumps into the air and lands in the square right in front of Lenin's mausoleum. Natasha and the others quickly follow. Natasha looks around, and seeing that it's Lenin's mausoleum, she laughs bitterly and turns her back on him. She contacts Agent Green who flies to Moscow to pick them up. Once safely on the way back to HQ, Natasha takes watch over Katya and Bruce watches over Natasha.

_SHIELD Hospital, SHEILD Headquarters, New York City, New York _

_Natasha's POV; 3rd person_

The medics wheel Katya off the quinjet and into the hospital. Natasha is very worried about Katya. She doesn't look very well; her skin is still pale and sweaty with fever. The numerous scars and bruises stand out, new ones on top of old. There are even some burn patches on her left arm, legs and her right hip. Her legs are still bleeding internally. Once in the hospital room, the doctors hook Katya up to a bunch of machines. The Avengers (_for future reference, Loki's counted as one of the Avengers)_, Fury and the inside man, Sergei Nikitin make their way to the meeting room. Fury starts off by telling them that he wants a report at their earliest convenience. Then, Sergei starts talking about just exactly what Red Room put Katya through.

"At first, they taught her all that she knows about being a spy and an assassin. In the Oriental program, they taught her fighting styles that range from the hard Shaolin style to the soft Wudang type. They also gave her an extensive knowledge of poisons and antidotes. She knows how to torture and kill you without EVER leaving a mark, physical or chemical. She also acquired a variety of other skills. Then, after Natasha defected, they gradually stopped her lessons and increased the amount of torture, until one day, they moved her to the cellar underneath the Church on Blood and tortured her every day," He finishes in a hoarse voice, as if he had suffered along with her. The others just look shell-shocked. By this time, Natasha looks slightly ill. A doctor comes in to the room and reports to Fury. Besides the physical injuries, he reports that she has also suffered huge amounts of brainwashing, how extensive they won't know until she awakes. They also need a hair sample from Natasha so that they can compare the two girls' DNA. Fury nods. The doctor also mentions that Katya's body shows signs of rape.

"What?" breathes Natasha. The doctor nods. She looks to Sergei.

"She…she got assaulted when she was 13."

After returning to the Avengers tower, Natasha quickly goes to the gym to take out her anger on the robots. Bruce follows her. The rest of the team goes to the living room and collapse on the various couches and sofa. Rhodey, Pepper, Jane and Phil rush into the living room from the kitchen to find them sprawled haphazardly around the living room.

"Are you guys are all right?" Jane asks as she and Phil check on Thor and Clint respectively.

"Yeah, just tired out. Red Room actually planned to trap us underground with Katya and the others. They gave the information all too readily to Nikitin and there weren't any guards outside of Katya's cell." Tony sighs.

"Was anybody hurt?" Rhodey asks as he and Pepper sit next to Loki who looks like he went a few rounds with the Hulk.

"Don't give me that look, Pepper. I'm fine, just a little bruised. Besides, I'm more worried about Katya and Natasha." Loki retorts as Pepper was indeed giving him a look said that he should've taken better care of himself. Pepper gives him a reproachful glare but, it held no heat.

"Why are you so worried about the two sisters?" Jane asks. She had finished making sure Thor wasn't seriously hurt and had sat next to him, his arm around her.

Loki answers tiredly, "Katya's suffered a lot over these past years and Natasha feels that she's to blame. Which she isn't, I mean, who could've known that Red Room would do something like that?" Thor is rather surprised and pleased that his brother can empathize with the Romanov siblings. _THIS is what Father and I were hoping for._ At Phil's confused look, Clint summarizes what Sergei had told them, including the rape. By the time he's done, everybody has expressions of horror and outrage on their faces.

Loki groans, standing up, "It's been a long day, and I know for a fact that all of us have ran over 1,000 miles. Let's just get some rest."

Steve stands up as well, albeit slowly, "Loki's right, we can deal with this tomorrow. Let's go and persuade Tasha and Bruce to rest as well." As one, they all go downstairs to the spy gym to persuade the Russian woman and the other half of the Science Bros to get some sleep.

_Hospital room; Katya's POV_

There's a white light surrounding me. It's so bright that it hurts my eyes and I squint to try and see through it. There's a sudden whooshing sound, and I open my eyes to see a white tiled ceiling. My arms lie atop a white blanket and I'm hooked to a heart monitor and a bunch of other machines. I close my eyes and take stock of my injuries; most of my wounds are old, so I don't pay attention to them but, I do remember a pain in my legs and I wiggle them. _Hmm, feels like somebody bandaged them._ I hear the door opening and in walk 4 people. My eyes light up when I see Sergei Nikitin, my protector for the past decade. At 6 foot and two and twenty years, he towers above me and has traditional Russian looks; dark blond hair with sapphire-blue eyes. But, I'm confused as to why he would be with these people. In front of Sergei is a tall, black man in a black trench coat with a patch over his left eye. _Looks like in his late 40s._ On both sides of the man are two people in black; a man in a black suit and a woman in a black catsuit. The man is about half a head taller than me with short brown hair. The woman in the catsuit is a shorter brunette who looks to be in her late twenties. I look curiously at Sergei. He clears his throat,

"Katya, these people are from SHEILD. They're here to help you," He says in English. I raise an eyebrow at that.

"SHEILD? Isn't that an American secret agency? Where are we actually?" I reply.

The man in the black trench coat steps forward and says, "We're in New York City."

_*New York City! I'm definitely NOT in Yekaterinburg._

A/N: Thank you guys so much! You guys are the best reviewers and readers an authoress could ask for! Please leave your constructive criticisms in the box below and I'll update as fast as I can for you guys.

*Unless otherwise noted, all of Katya's thoughts are processed in Russian. She can speak 14 languages in total (Russian, English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Manchurian, Mongolian, French, Spanish, Latin, Greek, Welsh, Irish, Scottish and German) but, the dominant one is Russian. There WILL bits and pieces of Russian and other languages floating around and I'll do my best to translate all of them. I'm using Google translate for all translations so, if I make translation mistakes, please don't hesitate to tell me!


	4. New Beginnings

A/N: Hey! I'm baaaack! So, I have a name for the school that Phil's going to be the principal of but, it might be an actual school, so if there's anybody here who is a student of or has a friend who's attending Chaplain High School or any variation of that, I apologize for using your school's name without permission. I just don't know if the school's an OC or not. Anyways, there will also be other Marvel characters that appear at the school, superhero or otherwise. Now, without further ado!

_SHEILD Headquarters; New York City_

_ 3rd person_

They explained everything to Katya; everything that had happened when she was unconscious and even introduced her to the Avengers. Natasha is absolutely certain that Katya is her sister but, Katya isn't so sure. Ok, so they look a lot alike, but that could be coincidence. Even the fact that both girls could walk without noise if they wanted to, didn't convince Katya. She adamantly said that she wanted to wait until the DNA tests were out. The DNA samples are still undergoing testing and those always take a long time. In the meantime, Katya spends her days getting used to the Avengers and SHEILD headquarters. A week after her birthday and rescue, Katya stumbles upon the SHEILD library. She's immediately sucked in and spends the majority of her time there. She brushes up on the books that Red Room allowed her to read during her captivity. There's not much on that list so, she turns to the literary classics of the world. For the rest of the summer, if she's not down at the gym, practicing, she's in the library reading. She starts with Tolstoy; _Anna Karenina _and _War and Peace_. The next books are Victor Hugo's _Hunchback of Notre Dame_ and _Les Miserables_, as well as Gaston Leroux's _Phantom of the Opera_. Crossing the English Channel, she picks up Shakespeare, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens and JK Rowling. She also brushes up on her fairy-tales and world mythology. The entire book list takes her all the way until a fortnight before the school year begins. The day she finishes all of the books, Katya decides to go to lunch. On the way, she meets up with Fury. He tells her that since she is still underage, she has to finish school, at least until she graduates high school. Katya understands and would like to see if going to college would be possible. Fury says that it's not IMPOSSIBLE, just a little harder to achieve, given her position.

"I understand," she says. "By the way, how have the DNA tests gone?"

"They're coming along well," Fury says as the two of them start to walk towards the cafeteria. During her time reading, she's never been to the cafeteria on time for lunch, usually only coming in for a late lunch or some snacks. This is the first time she's ever seen the cafeteria at the height of lunchtime. And it's quite busy, seeing that it's the height of lunch. She and Fury grab lunch trays and go through the line. Katya picks up spaghetti with meatballs, some vegetables, and chocolate milk. Fury grabs a burger, fries, and water. As Katya is looking for a seat, a man in a black suit appears at her side and asks,

"Hello, beautiful. Do you want to eat with us?"

"Sorry, but I'm already eating with the Avengers."

"Oh, but I insist," the man drawls. He grabs her arm and starts to pull her toward his table where Sergei and some other men are sitting. They leer at her, and Sergei waves awkwardly. She feels very uncomfortable. Suddenly, Loki appears at her side.

"Green, let the lady go," he snaps. Katya sighs with relief. Loki grabs Green's arm and tightens his hold until Green lets go of Katya's arm. "You obviously don't know how to treat a lady," Loki drawls. The two of them then turn around and start walking towards the table. As they sit down, each of the Avengers greet her in turn and she says hello to all of them.

"So, what have you been up to?" Clint asks as he digs in to his spaghetti and meatballs.

"Oh, nothing much," She answers, also eating her lunch, "I just finished my book list this morning and I'm starting school next week, so there's that."

"Hey, if you finished the reading this morning, shouldn't you be speaking in whatever language you were last reading?" Tony asks.

Katya shakes her head, "I had a lot of time to switch from German back to English."

Phil speaks up, "Katya, about your schooling, you'll be going to Chaplain High School. We have an entrance exam so; you'll need to take that after lunch. You'll pick out your classes after you take the exam. I'm the principal so, if you have any questions, feel free to ask me," he hands her a stack of papers and the entrance exam. She nods absently, already skimming the forms and papers. Setting aside her school stuff, she focuses on the conversation. Suddenly, a thought strikes her.

"Loki, why was Green so eager for me to eat lunch with him and his friends? He gave off the feeling that it was more than just having the novelty of the Black Widow's supposed sister eating lunch with them."

Loki looks uncomfortable and shifts awkwardly in his seat. He looks to others for help. Natasha answers her,

"Green and his friends have different definitions for honor and loyalty. They give no thought to the lives that they might ruin on their missions. We've succeeded in keeping his group from expanding but, he's slowly gaining momentum over the last few months. If he had succeeded in befriending you, it would have sent the message that you share the same beliefs as they do. Because of this, it's sent a rift through the organization. We'll tolerate each other as long as he doesn't do anything to antagonize us and vice versa," at this, Tony gives a snort of derision. Natasha glares at him with minimal heat then, continues, "It also doesn't help that for the last five years, Green's been crushing on me. When I got together with Bruce, he felt that it was a big blow to his pride and has since upped the ante between the two sides. Since there's a big possibility of you being my sister, he probably thought it was a nice 'divide and conquer strategy'."

"…divide and conquer strategy." The two redheads say at the same time. Natasha arches her eyebrow but gives her a look that Katya understands to mean that she should try and distance herself from this. She nods slightly in understanding and the conversation returns to the light banter between the team and their handler from before. But, Loki glances at Katya, somewhat worried about her, seeing a hidden calculating look in her eyes.

After lunch, the team and Phil return to the Avengers Tower. Katya follows them, as she plans to go over the classes and forms with Phil while the exam is being scored. Katya breezes through the exam, finishing the multiple choice part in one and a half hours, instead of the original three. After that, Phil asks the school's choir and orchestra teachers to hear her sing and play the violin. It's the only instrument that she feels comfortable sharing with the public.

"So, Fraulein Katya," the orchestra teacher is German while the choir teacher is French, "vat are you going to play for me today?"

"Vivaldi's Spring," Frau Schmidt's eyebrows rise very high at that. Katya's eyes have a small twinkle, but nothing else gives away her emotions. She readies her violin and starts playing. The entire living room is filled with the beautiful sound of Vivaldi's Spring piece. Frau Schmidt and Monsieur DuPont are astounded. Katya plays the first part of Spring, and stops in the middle of awed silence.

"Frau Schmidt, have you ever heard anything so beautiful?" Monsieur DuPont whispers.

"No, I have not, Monsieur," Frau Schmidt breathes out. Katya looks worried and she rushes to reassure her, "_Nicht, nicht_, Fraulein Katya. You played beautifully! My _kollege_ just needs to hear you sing."

Monsieur DuPont takes over, "Now, mademoiselle. If you could please repeat after me," He then proceeds to listen to Katya sing scales. After that, he asks her to sing a piece of her choice. She chooses to sing "Scarborough Fair".

_Are you going to Scarborough fair?  
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme  
Remember me to one who lives there  
He once was a true love of mine_

Tell him to make me a cambric shirt  
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme  
Without no seam nor needlework  
Then he'll be a true love of mine

Tell him to find me an acre of land  
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme  
Between the salt water and the sea strand  
Then he'll be a true love of mine

Are you going to Scarborough fair?  
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme  
Remember me to one who lives there  
He once was a true love of mine

From the minute she opens her mouth, Frau Schmidt and Monsieur DuPont are gobsmacked. They can't believe their luck in being able to have such a musically talented girl be a part of their choir and orchestra. Drawn by the violin playing and singing, the rest of the team, Phil, Pepper, Jane and Rhodey are also left with their mouths hanging open. When she's done, there's a five second silence, then the teachers come around and say,

"Congratulations, Fraulein Katya. You've been accepted into both the Chaplain Choir and Chaplain Orchestra. We'll see you on the first of September." Katya's so happy that the minute the teachers are out the lobby, she breaks into squeals and cheers.

"Oh my God, I can't believe it, I got accepted. I GOT ACCEPTED!"

Phil comes in with the results of the entrance exam, "Katya, you not only got accepted in to the choir and orchestra, but you passed the exam with flying colors. You got into Chaplain High. Oh, and don't be surprised if the language professors think you should go to Harvard for your classes," he says with a smile. Then, he starts to laugh full-on at the shocked look on Katya's face.

A/N: Please leave constructive criticisms and I'll work on getting the Christmas fic in tomorrow, definitely before the end of Break though!


	5. First Day of School

A/N: I AM SOOOOOO VERY SORRY that I couldn't get this before Christmas last year but, I got sidetracked with Lord of The Rings and a bunch of other things. Anyhoo, below is an updated list of all of Katya's talents. I added and threw out some languages so, don't refer to the original list that I gave you. I will still translate everything as best as I can. FYI, _nicht_ means no and _kollege_ is colleague.

**Languages**: Russian, English, Latin, Greek, Italian, French, Spanish, German, Mandarin, and Norwegian.

**Musical**: Cello, violin, piano, pipa, guzheng and a soprano voice. She has perfect pitch but, she tries to hide it as best as she can.

**Academics**: Very smart.

**Miscellaneous**: Prepares tea the Chinese way, plays weiqi chess. She's really good with poisons and has an in-depth knowledge of botany and the human body. She's trained in the Martial Arts and most of her poisons are derived from wuxia novels she reads.

Now, on with the show!

_New York City; the Avengers Tower_

_Phil's POV_

I laugh at Katya's antics. She acts really cold around strangers, but with the team and me, she's just a normal teenager. And one who just got accepted into a really prestigious high school, if I do say so myself! She suddenly stops and whirls around to look at me.

"Oh my God, Phil, I still have to get my school supplies and textbooks. And do I have to wear a uniform, where do I get one if I have to and…"

"Katya!" We all interrupt her.

She blushes, "Sorry."

"No, it's fine," I smile, "It's normal to be nervous. We can go supply-shopping tomorrow, you'll get your textbooks next week, we don't have uniforms but, we do have a school dress code. Oh, and I suggest you start familiarizing yourself with classical music. Both Frau Schmidt and Monsieur DuPont are big fans of movie soundtracks and musical theatre."

"Ok, so I'm gonna need music books for Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera...um, am I missing anything?" she asks, looking around at us. We all look at Tony who's smirking.

"I think it's time for young Katya to be introduced to the cinema," he says gleefully, rubbing his hands together. And so her education in classical movies starts. Tony first has her watch any of the old films of the books that she read. After that, he gets the DVDs for the 10th and 25th anniversary concerts for Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera and lets her watch it to her heart's content. After she memorizes every song in each of the concerts, Natasha and Tony each introduce her to the most iconic films in history; _The Titanic_, _The Harry Potter _series, _Pride and Prejudice 2005_, _The Godfather_, _Schindler's List_, _Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon_, _How to Kill a Mockingbird_, _ET: The Extra Terrestrial_, _Gone with Wind_, _The Sound of Music_, the _Sherlock Holmes _movies, _Twelve Angry Men_, and Zeffirelli's _Romeo and Juliet_. After the flood of movies, Katya and I go school-supply shopping. We get the standard school supplies plus, some extra things; music books for choir and orchestra, a new cleaning kit for her violin, and a light purple iPod with Skull Candy headphones. With the iPod, I teach her how to use it and get her started on her music collection. Because she was spending so much time with us, and with Katya spending every spare moment that she has, pestering Fury to let her move in with us, Fury decides to let her move in to the Tower. Tony's delighted; he's been waiting for forever to get Katya's room decorated. It's a large room, with white walls and a queen-sized bed with a lilac bedspread. The room also has its own bathroom, desk and a rather large walk-in closet. The day she moves in, Natasha is up SUPER early and is nervously pacing the length of living room. Bruce is watching her, rather exasperated but, amused. Clint and I come in, laughing at the state Natasha's in.

"Come on, Nat. Stop being so nervous," Clint claps his hand on her back.

"I know, I just…I can't…ugh!" frustrated that she can't speak even say a complete sentence, she throws herself on the couch in a huff. We sit down on the sofa next to her.

"Nat, it's not that bad. Remember, the DNA tests haven't come out yet," I reassure her, as I correctly guess why the infamous Black Widow is so nervous. Clint glances at me and nods in understanding; Nat was nervous because she wanted to make a good impression on Katya, even though it hadn't been proven that they are sisters. Natasha sighs and leans on Bruce's shoulder.

"I know that, Phil…"

"Well, if you know, then you shouldn't be wearing a hole into the ground," Loki says sternly. He plops down on the opposite side of Bruce. Natasha hums in assent. Tony, Steve, Pepper, Rhodey, Thor and Jane all come walking out of the elevator and the morning continues to flow regularly. At 11:00, the doorbell rings.

"Sir, Miss Katya has arrived with her luggage," JARVIS says.

"Let her in, let her in," Tony waves his hand in the air.

"Right away, sir."

Soon, we hear the hiss of the elevator doors opening and out walks Katya in black skinny jeans, black ballet flats and a white blouse with a jean jacket. Her crimson red hair is French-braided down her back.

"Hey," she smiles. Everybody smiles and we all hug her in turn. The family's almost complete, all we need now are the DNA tests to prove that she's Natasha younger sister. The rest of the week passes quickly. Soon, it's the night before the first of September and Katya is in the living room, going over her supplies and the map of the school one more time. Clint and I are sitting on the couch watching TV.

"…I have 10 mechanical pencils, my class schedule, music books for both choir and orchestra…"

"Haha, Katya, don't you already have that memorized?" Tony asks, chuckling. Katya sticks her tongue out at him and goes back to checking her stuff. Steve sits next to her on the couch and peers at her schedule.

"Whoa, why are you taking so many hard classes?"

She glances at her schedule. "No, I'm not. It's just AP World History, Choir, Orchestra, PE, AP Calculus and Physics. My language teachers have already told me I should take online language courses from Harvard so I have seventh and eighth open. I'm not overtaxing myself."

I chuckle at Steve's shocked expression. "Steve, your definition of hard and her definition are very different."

Katya smirks, "Can you help me double checking all of this? I'm pretty sure I have everything," she gets up, and goes around the coffee table to look for something, probably a pack of paper. Steve picks up the school list and looks it over. Katya comes back around with the pack of paper and the two of them start to go over the list. Tony comes in, leaning on the doorframe and looks at Steve contentedly.

"…1 graphing calculator?"

"Check."

"Your laptop?"

"Right here," Katya pats the lavender-covered laptop. It was a gift from Tony who wants to literally spoil the young Russian girl with only the newest gadgets, all of them courtesy of Stark Industries of course!

"All right, then. You've got everything." The two of them start to clean up, putting everything back in the plastic bags.

"Thanks, Steve," she stands up, giving Steve a hug. Katya takes the bags in hand and walks out of the room, pausing to give Tony a one-armed hug. The two boyfriends give each other a smile as Tony hugs her in return. She walks down the hall and turns a left towards her room. Tony comes in to the room and sits down next to Steve. The WWII veteran lays his hand in Tony's lap and puts his head on his shoulder. Natasha and Bruce walk in just as Pepper and Rhodey come up from her office. Thor and Jane also come up in a different elevator from her lab with Loki following them. They all seat themselves around the living room.

"Do you really think she is ready for school?" Loki asks.

"Yes, I do think she's ready. If she isn't given something to do, she would've exploded," I reply.

"Why are you so sure?" Steve asks.

"Because she gets impatient whenever she isn't kept busy. We all know this; we have to be kept busy or else we'd go crazy. It's the same with her." They all nod in understanding. We watch a bit more TV before we all retire for the night.

_The next morning; the Avengers' Tower_

_Katya's POV_

I wake up at 6:00 in the morning and spend what feels like an eternity with thoughts swirling around in my head. What if the other students didn't like me; what if the teachers didn't like me; what if they found out about my past? _Bozhe moi,_ I _can't_ let them know about my past. Finally, I roll out of bed and get ready for school. I slip on a green buttoned-down shirt, thread a black belt through it, and pull on a pair of black skinny jeans and a pair of black leather thigh high boots. I pull my unruly red hair back in to a ponytail and let my bangs hang down. I slip a pair of silver hoop earrings through my ears and clasp a get silver double-hooped necklace around my neck. I grab my school stuff and phone and go to the kitchen to get some breakfast. As I grab 10 eggs and start up the stove to cook it, the rest of the Avengers start trickling in. They grab their cups and start filling the up with their morning drinks.

"So, how do you feel?" Tony asks.

"Nervous," I say, "I can't seem to stop shaking," As if on cue, my hand shakes so much that I almost let go of the spatula. I grip it tighter and finish the scrambled eggs with an almost single-minded determination. I hear a grunt behind me and I deduce that Steve must have elbowed his boyfriend in the stomach. I finish scrambling the eggs and put the plateful of scrambled eggs on the table. They all dig in as I get out a bowl of cereal for myself. I sit down beside Natasha as they all talking about what they're going to do today. Phil and I need to get to school; Clint, Natasha and Loki are going to the Helicarrier to get the new recruits broken in; Thor and Jane are also going to the Helicarrier to do some astrophysicist research for SHIELD; and Tony, Bruce and Steve are going to work in the Science Brothers' lab. After breakfast, we all split up to start our day. After double-checking my school stuff, Phil helps me get it all into his black Lincoln car. Clint, Loki and Natasha walk into the garage at the same time.

"Hey, good luck with the recruits today," I say.

"Thanks, Katya," Loki says. Natasha nods in agreement, and Clint smiles at me. The three of them pile into Natasha's blue Prius and Natasha backs it out of the garage. Phil and I wave at them then we get into the car and go to school. It is a relatively comfortable silent ride and soon Phil's driving into the parking lot and parking in his reserved principal spot. I let out a breath, thanking the Heavens that we arrived early enough to avoid stares. Phil guesses what's on my mind but, says nothing. We walk into the school, and go to my locker to put my stuff away. I organize my stuff then, put my morning classes in my backpack. I shut my locker and Phil walks me to my first class; AP World History. The teacher, Professor Jones, is in the classroom when we get there and Phil introduces me to him.

"Stefan! It's wonderful to see you. I have somebody to introduce you to. Stefan, this is Katya Romanov. Katya, this is your AP World History professor, Professor Jones." We shake hands.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Professor. I hope to learn a lot in your class this year."

"Likewise, Ms. Katya and I hope to learn a lot from you this year, as well."

Phil smiles and says, "Well, now that introductions are out of the way, Katya, are you sure that you don't want wait with me in the office?"

"I'm fine," I smile, "I want to peruse the textbook, anyways. I'll see you afterschool," Phil smiles then, after talking to Professor Jones for a few minutes, he gives me a hug then, walks out of the classroom. I sit down at a desk and take out my AP World History textbook. I flip through it, skimming the passages and reading the headings. Professor Jones walks to his desk and starts to get ready for class. Soon, it's time for class and the students start walking in. At the start of class, the professor motions for me to walk up to the front of the class.

"Class, we have a new student, Katya Romanov, with us. I hope you will all give her a warm Chaplain High welcome," He smiles, looking around at the students. A few students smile friendly at me, others nod in understanding and a group of guys and girls in the back giggle upon looking at me. Professor Jones glares at them and they promptly stop. I return to my seat and Jones begins to introduce us the course. 50 minutes later, the bell rings and I leave to go to my next class. A red-head with green eyes and her blond friend walk up to me and introduce themselves.

"Hi, I'm Mary Jane Watson, but everybody calls me MJ. This is my friend, Gwen Stacy."

I shake both their hands, "Hi, I'm Katya."

"Katya," Gwen muses, "Is it short for anything?"  
"Yes, it is. It's short for Yekaterina. It's the Russian version of Catherine."

"Ooh, pretty," MJ says. I smile and we start walking down the hallway. Suddenly, the group of guys and girls that laughed at the beginning of class appears in front of us.

"Pick up a new stray there, Watson?" the girl in front sneers. She has long auburn hair with sharp, grey eyes. Her figure is the epitome of the hourglass figure and she looks to be wearing designer clothes. Now that I look at her and her friends, it seems that they're ALL wearing designer clothing. The rest of the girls snicker and the boys glare at us threateningly. Or at least, they are trying to, from my standpoint. MJ and Gwen certainly look scared but, they're bravely trying to make it seems as though they aren't. I cross my arms in front of me.

"What is it to you?" I ask.

"Ooh, a feisty little one!" one of the boys exclaim. He reaches a hand out to touch me, but I take a step back.

"Look, whatever your problem is, could you please let us through? We need to get to class."

"Hmm, no, I don't think so, bitch!" the boy in front throws out a punch towards me. I quickly duck to my right. The boy seems surprised and throws out another punch. I sidestep it and let him fall to the ground.

"Come on, let's go or else we're going to be late," I say to MJ and Gwen, who just stare at me, dumbfounded. I pick up my backpack, which I had dropped earlier and the three of us continue walking.

"You bitch, don't think I'll be forgetting this any time soon," the boy snarls quietly. If it weren't for my sensitive ears, I wouldn't have even heard what he said. I think about turning around and show him REAL fear but, I decide not to. No use going around, further destroying my image of an innocent. Although, I do smirk, rather evilly if I do say so myself, and my two new friends are look at me a little worriedly. They don't say anything and we split up, me to Choir, Gwen to AP Government, and MJ to AP Econ.

The rest of my morning periods go by relatively quietly. Frau Schmidt, Monsieur DuPont and I exchange pleasantries before class and my classmates for Choir and Orchestra were nice. After Orchestra, I had lunch. MJ and Gwen introduce me to their two guy friends; Peter Parker, Derek Clark and Harry Osborne.

"So, I hear from MJ here, that you managed to piss of the resident Queen Bee and her posse this morning," Harry smirks, "A job well done, I must say. It was very amusing to see Krissy come in all angry and huffy," Peter laughs at the image.

"So, what can you guys tell me about them? I'm a little confused."

"Well, Kristina Eleanor Laverne is the most popular girl in the school. She's also the stereotypical mean girl. Her boyfriend is the star basketball player, John Dorian. Their friends are all stupid, but somehow still able to get into AP classes. Oh, and try and stay out of their way. You really don't want to find out if they're going to take revenge on you."

I nod then, we get on to talking about classes and favorite books and movies. Soon, lunch is over and Harry, Peter and I go to PE while Gwen heads off to Glasswork, Derek goes to AP Bio and MJ has an open. She walks with us to PE. Since it's the first day, the teacher, Mr. Brown, doesn't have us do a lot. We get our lockers and given the regular syllabus spiel. Afterwards, he lets us go to do whatever we want. The four of us decide to play volleyball; guys against girls. We split up and Harry serves the ball. We play until Peter and Harry can't keep up with me and MJ anymore.

"Nice game, boys," MJ smirks. I laugh at the picture the two make. Both are sweaty, leaning against the bleachers and breathing as if they had run a marathon instead of playing volleyball.

"Come on, what was that for? We're not SUPPOSED to get sweaty on the first day of PE!" Harry yelled.

Peter laughs, shaking his head. "Do I even want to know where you two learned to play like that?"

"Ahh, no," MJ and I answer at the same time. To compensate for us beating them so horribly, MJ and I help carry their stuff once class is over. Harry, Derek and I go to AP Calculus while MJ and Peter meet up with Gwen to go to AP Physics.

"Remember, you guys have to tell us what Howl is doing in Physics!" Derek reminded them. The three of them nod and go down the stairs while the three of us go up the stairs to AP Calculus. The class itself isn't at all hard; it's trying not to fall asleep which is the chore. Harry must feel sorry for me since he's already had to nudge me in the side 5 times since class began. Derek has a hard enough time trying to figure out what's going on. Soon enough, the bell rings and I am able to get out into the sunshine. Then, I remember that I have Physics. I feel my shoulders immediately droop. My two friends laugh as they see my downtrodden expression.

"Oh, come on, Katya. Physics can't be that hard," Derek teases me.

"It's not that it's _hard_, it's just too _easy_," I grumble.

"What!? Physics, _easy_? Hahaha, Harry, I think we've found the one person who agrees with you!" I smile, leaving the boys to their bantering. _You would think AP Calculus and Physics easy as well if you had Bruce Banner and Tony Stark tutoring you throughout the summer._ Personally, I am not gifted in math OR science, it's just that I have two really good teachers. I am more talented in breaking computer codes and breaking in to other computers. As I walk down the hallway, my thoughts turn toward all the…skills that Red Room taught me. It scares me to know that I can be normal one minute, but then turn inhumanely cruel the next. That's the way Red Room trained me; an unassuming beauty who's as deadly as the cobra. I shiver, rubbing my arms. Thankfully, we've arrived at the Physics classroom. Professor Howl ushers us in. The class sits down and he begins the normal introductory speech. After that, he gives us a basic worksheet to do. I finish it in 5 minutes, and then I take out my iPod to listen to music. I'm in the middle of Caruso when the bell rings, signaling the end of the day. _Finally!_ I pocket my iPod and pick up my backpack. Derek and Harry are already by the door, waiting for me.

"So, what do you have next?" Harry asks as we start walking down the hallway. Derek says that he has Open then, Spanish. I smirk, knowing that both boys will be seriously jealous that I'm technically already done for the day.

"I have 7th and 8th open, so I'm going home. Don't look at me like that. Once I get home, I still have to go online to take my language classes."

"Wait, you said language classes, as in plural. What languages are you taking?" Harry asks.

"Latin and Greek."

"Why are you taking Latin and Greek?" Derek asks, furrowing his brows in confusion.

"Stop that, you're going to have an unhappy life if you keep doing that. And as to why Latin and Greek," I say, shrugging my shoulders, "I already know Spanish, French, Italian and German fluently, Russian's my native language and as you can tell, my English is impeccable. Besides, it'll be easier when Frau Schmidt has us learning arias that were written in Latin. All right, I'll see you guys tomorrow. Tell MJ, Gwen and Peter I said hi!" With that, I turn to go down the stairs. I arrive at my locker a few minutes later. Opening it, I mentally go through my day to see if I have any homework. The only homework that I can think of is Choir and Orchestra. Both Frau Schmidt and Monsieur DuPont want us to get ready for annual Chaplain High Christmas Recital. This year, the choir is performing Beethoven's Ode to Joy and the orchestra is performing Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker. I take out my choir and orchestra books to take home, recheck my stuff then close my locker. As I walk out, I think, '_Well, that wasn't so bad for the first day.'_

A/N: Oh, thank God I'm done with that! Now, all I need to do is get the Christmas part up even though it's late. After that, I've got the Chinese New Year part and Valentine's Day part. Hope you guys' have had some homework-less days!


	6. Christmas Revelations

A/N: Hey, everybody! So, I'm definitely going to try and get this posted before Christmas gets too far behind. Let's see, I think that's it. Remember, I own nobody except Sergei, Katya, the bullies, Derek and a new character, Elizabeth! Oh, I almost forgot to mention, there's going to be a lot of flashbacks that use past perfect tense. Everything in italics is a flashback and everything that's NOT in italics is in the present. So, don't get confused! Also, I need to have more couple action among the Avengers and company so, get ready for a WHOLE bunch of fluff!

_Sometime in November_

_Third-person POV_

Katya walks into the Choir room, immediately spotting Elizabeth already sitting at their usual spot and looking the songs for today over. She goes over.

"Hey, Elizabeth, how are you today?"

"I'm fine, thanks. You?"

"I'm good. What does Frau Schmidt want us to sing today?"

"We're still practicing Beethoven's Ode to Joy. And she's also planning ahead for a spring recital."

Katya sighs, shaking her head. She gets her Choir book out, thinking, as the two girls chat about the two songs that they have to sing, how ironic it is for her to be friends with Krissy's younger sister, Elizabeth.

_Flashback_

_Two days after school started, Katya walked into the Choir room to find Frau Schmidt conversing with a girl. She looked to be a sophomore. Katya walked over._

_"guten Morgan, Frau Schmidt," Katya greets the German teacher._

_"guten Morgan, Fraulein Katya. This is Fraulein Elizabeth; I hope you two will learn much from each other."_

_"natürlich, Frau Schmidt," both girls answered at the same time. They looked at each other and Katya stuck out her hand._

_"Wie machst du, Fraulein Elizabeth? Mein Name ist Jekaterina, aber jeder nennt mich Katya."_

_"Es ist ein Vergnügen, Sie zu treffen, Katya. __Mein Name ist Elizabeth." Katya looked Elizabeth over; she was small, with straight brown hair that reached her waist. Her eyes were a stormy grey._

_The two girls turned toward the choir chairs, talking in fluent German. Frau Schmidt looked on with glee. She knew that Katya didn't have a lot of friends and it was hard for the young Fraulein to make new ones. She and Monsieur DuPont knew, of course, of Katya's true heritage and who she lived with. But both of them took a vow of secrecy and promised Principal Barton-Coulson that they wouldn't say a word. _

_"So, where did you learn to speak such fluent German? Your accent sounds like it's from Salzburg," Elizabeth asked Katya. _

_"I had a tutor from Salzburg. What about you? Your accent sounds like it's from Berlin."_

_"You guessed right. My mother is from Berlin and she taught my sister and I German."_

_Katya nodded her understanding, giving Elizabeth a subtle look-over. She had on tasteful clothing, but it was her face that seemed familiar. She had a Roman nose, long, curly, light brown hair with blond streaks and jade green eyes. Katya's eyes widened slightly when she realized who Elizabeth exactly was._

_"You're Kristina Laverne's sister, aren't you?" She asked._

_"How did you know?" Elizabeth was surprised. She had wanted to make a friend without scaring her away because of her sister or only liking her for her sister's connection._

_"I only had a suspicion but, you just confirmed it with your facial expression. Don't worry; your sister and I aren't on the best of terms."_

_"Yeah, I heard about that. Thanks for putting my sister in her place."_

_"No problem," Katya smirked. "It was my pleasure."_

_Elizabeth smirked as well. And that was the start of a great friendship. At lunch that day, Katya invited Elizabeth to eat lunch with Peter, Harry, Derek, MJ, Gwen and her. At first, they seemed a little surprise, but then MJ and Gwen stepped forward and welcomed Elizabeth with open arms. The boys still remained a little standoffish until Elizabeth started talking to them about sports. After that, the seven friends sit down and start enjoying lunch. _

_End flashback_

"So, Elizabeth, I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Ask away, Katya."  
"What, exactly, does Christmas entail? I know there's gift giving and a tree with a bunch lights and ornaments strung around a tree, but what does it all mean?"

Elizabeth sighs, she forgot about her friend's incredibly inquisitive nature. '_But, at least she's asking directly._' The junior thought; normally the young Russian would beat around the bush. She also knows that her friend is somewhat lacking in terms of modern culture so, she's been teaching Katya all the ins and outs of American society.

"Religiously, Christmas is when Jesus Christ was born. The gift-giving originates from the fact that the Three Wise Men bore gifts to give to the 'Savior' as they called him," doing the air quotes. "There's a lot of other underlying values and such, but I won't bore you with the details," knowing how much her friend REALLY hates talking about religion. Katya just smirks. "Why ask?"

"It's nothing," the redhead says, "Just that I've been seeing all these commercials lately and there's been all these decorations going up around the city. So, what kinds of gifts are exchanged?"

The brunette turns to her, "It all depends on the person giving the gift and the person receiving it. For instance, one year my Mom got me a copy of _The Phantom of the Opera_ while Krissy got a new Gucci bag."

Katya nods, smirking as she noted the distinct differences between the two sisters. "Thanks, Elizabeth. That cleared up a lot of things."

_Meanwhile in the Avengers' Tower_

Bruce and Natasha ride the elevator up to the living room after a relatively hard practice. Bruce plops in front of the TV, turning it on and flipping through the channels. Natasha walks into the kitchen and prepares two cups of tea, both Earl Grey. She walks back toward the couch and hands Bruce his cup of tea. He nods his thanks. Natasha settles down and Bruce wraps his arm around her shoulders. They both watch the TV in comfortable silence.

"What's bothering you, Tasha?"

She sighs, "Is it so easy for you to know what's on my mind?"

Bruce chuckles, "No, I just know you well enough."

She smirks then sighs, "It's just that Christmas is coming up and I worry that Katya won't deal well with it. I know how hard it is to forget what happens in Red Room, but I've had almost 2 decades, you and the rest of the team to help. Katya just got out and while she jokes with us, she still doesn't have that trust."

Bruce nods, understanding, "Don't worry Natasha, I'm sure if Katya has questions, she'll know that we're always here to help." Tasha nods, her eyes getting that far-off look, and then lays her head on Bruce's shoulder, while the TV plays _A Christmas Carol_.

_SHIELD Headquarters_

_Katya's POV_

"Phil, are the DNA tests done yet?" I ask.

"Yes, they should be done," his face is scrunched in confusion. "I don't know what's taking them so long though. Look, Fury needs to see me about something. I'll see you later tonight, 'kay?" And with that, Phil speed walks away, meeting Maria halfway down the hall then, the two agents turn around the corner. I nod absent-mindedly, my mind already mapping out a way to get to the DNA labs. Spinning on my heel, I set off towards the nearest elevator. 10 minutes later, I arrive at the DNA labs. After swiping my SHIELD card, I stick my head in. I see Sergei bending over one of the counters.

"Sergei, I didn't know you'd be here!" I say pleasantly surprised. I haven't seen Sergei a lot in the past months and I am starting to miss my overprotective папа медведь. Sergei whirls around, hiding something behind his back.

"Oh, Katya! Эй, я не видела вас там. Хех!" Sergei looks really nervous. I have never seen him this nervous before. I'm also a little suspicious. Whenever Sergei starts talking in Russian with false humor, it's a dead giveaway that he's hiding something. My eyes narrow slightly. I walk up to him, and then I smirk mischievously. His face fills with dread. Moving quickly, I snatch the piece of paper from behind his back then, maneuver myself so he can't get the paper. Silence fills the room as my eyes scan the paper. As I read, I feel my jaw drop. The paper states that I _am_ the biological sister of one Natasha Alianovna Romanov. At the bottom, there are also two strips of DNA, one is mine and the other is Natasha's. I am floored; but the thing that _really_ shocks me is when I read the date that the DNA test was taken 2 months ago! I'm so shocked that I immediately turn on him. He looks really sorry and has that kicked-puppy dog look on him.

"Sergei, why wasn't this given to me two months ago?" I ask him.

"I didn't think you were ready! You'd just gotten rescued from Red Room, and stuck in a school full of bourgeois Americans and—"

"Не оправдываться, Сергей! Как вы можете ясно видеть, я вполне ассимилировались среди моих сверстников. И кто, черт возьми, вам решать Я чертовски готовы или не знать об этом? Черт, Сергей, я провел последние семьдесят-гребаный-четырех лет интересно, если у меня есть семья там, а ты не пришел и не сказал мне, что моя сестра Наташа? "

"What in FUCKING HELL is going on in here?!" Fury shouted. Sergei and I both jump and look towards the door. Where moments before the doorway had been empty, it was now filled to the brim with seven superheroes and three secret agents, all with varying degrees of confusion on their faces.

"It's nothing, Director. Katya and I just had a misunderstanding, that's all,"

"A misunderstanding, my ass," I growl next him, with only a faint Russian accent. If I am not so furious, I'd be proud of myself to be able to speak English so quickly after speaking in Russian. "Director, he's been-mmph!" At that exact moment, Sergei decides to shut me up by planting his mouth on top of mine. I struggle out of his arms, and then slap him soundly across the face. The slap resounds throughout the room, and I bet the agents all the way down the hall can hear it.

"Сергей Никитин, you overstep your boundaries!" I hear Natasha growl behind me.

"Nikitin, what do you think you're doing?" Steve says, "You of all people should know that Katya doesn't like anybody getting into her personal space, especially after the rape—" I whirl around, my jaw dropping open with shock. Steve looks caught out. He looks at me with an apology already on the tip of his tongue. I hold up my hand to stop him.

"How? How in the name of the Virgin Mary do you know about that?" I whisper. By this time, my mind's going a mile a minute, flipping through all the people that could possibly know about this. Suddenly, it hits me like a ton of bricks. I turn slowly back around to face Sergei, my папа медведь. I look at him pleadingly, willing him to convince me that my thinking is wrong, that I've definitely gone round the bend this time. He couldn't have told them, I made him swear an oath of secrecy when he found out the day after _it_ had happened. And yet, I see the answer in his eyes that he _had_ told them and since I don't _ever_ remember giving him permission to tell _anyone_, I conclude that he had told them on his own time.

"When? When did you tell them? When did you чертовски решили разбить вашу клятву секретности, и пусть все знают об этом?" I march up to him and hiss out the last part between clinched teeth.

"Look, Katya, you don't understand," I raise my eyebrows at this but, let him continue, "It was the day they rescued you and the doctor just came in and said that your body shows signs of rape. What was I supposed to do, outright lie to their faces?!"

"Of course not, Сергей Никитин. But, you could have said that it wasn't your place to tell and left it at that," Natasha sweetly says, but I can tell from her tone, that she's beyond pissed. If there's any good that Red Room taught us, then it would be loyalty. I can tell from her tone that she's furious that Sergei broke my confidence. I snap my head up to glare at him; if looks were poison, Sergei would be rolling on the floor in agony. I whirl around and march out of the room. As I leave, I hear Sergei following me, but Loki stops him with magic. I don't look behind me, quickly leaving HQ and heading towards the Avengers Tower.

_Avengers Tower; the music room_

After I leave HQ, I quickly find a taxi to take me to the Avengers Tower. I pay him, and then go straight up to the music room that Tony had built to keep all of my instruments and let me practice. I let the others use it too, but I was the most frequent visitor. I stalk over to the Grand Yamaha piano and sit down in front of it. I start out by warming up with scales and arpeggios. Then, I play The Music of the Night for the first time through perfectly. I have perfect pitch, but I don't want anyone to know; it's one of those 'I want to succeed on my own merit' things. Finally, I play the introduction to one of my original pieces, called "A Hundred Years of Winter". It describes what I went through in Red Room. As I play, I pour all of my anger at Sergei and my shame at having my secret so exposed into the piece. I finish the piece with a complicated trill.

"I haven't heard of that song before. What is it called?" Natasha asks from the doorway. She walks into the room, standing next to the piano. Katya looks at her rather incredulously but, answers,

"You wouldn't have. I composed it myself; it's called "A Hundred Years of Winter". I composed it in my head while Red Room had me." Natasha nods in understanding. Looking at the piano, she notices a lack of music sheets. "I don't need music sheets for music that I know really well," I say. She looks at me then, and somehow I know that she knows that I have perfect pitch. Yet, I also somehow know that, unlike Sergei, she will let me tell the others when I'm comfortable. Turning her gaze to the keys, she says,

"Just for the record, none of us think less of you in any way, at all. All of us are, in some way, shape or form, broken. We know how you feel. So, you can tell us what you want but, only when you feel comfortable."

"Спасибо, Наташа," I don't know if she knows how absolutely grateful I am in that moment. She nods and leaves me in peace.

Language translations (Dark blue for German and Dark red for Russian. I'll post new color codes as languages pop up):

_"guten Morgen, Frau Schmidt," Katya greets the German teacher._

_"guten Morgen, Fraulein Katya. This is Fraulein Elizabeth; I hope you two will learn much from each other."_

_"natürlich, Frau Schmidt," both girls answered at the same time. They looked at each other and Katya stuck out her hand._

_"Wie machst du, Fraulein Elizabeth? Mein Name ist Jekaterina, aber jeder nennt mich Katya."_

_"Es ist ein Vergnügen, Sie zu treffen, Katya. __Mein Name ist Elizabeth."_

"Good Morning, Mrs. Schmidt," Katya greets the German teacher.

"Good Morning, Miss Katya. This is Miss Elizabeth, I hope you two will learn much from each other ".

"Of course, Mrs. Schmidt," both girls answered at the same time. They looked at each other and Katya stuck out her hand.

"How do you do, Miss Elizabeth? My name is Yekaterina, but everyone calls me Katya. "

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Katya. My name is Elizabeth. "

"Oh, Katya! Hey, I didn't see you there. Heh!"

"Не оправдываться, Сергей! Как вы можете ясно видеть, я вполне ассимилировались среди моих сверстников. И кто, черт возьми, вам решать Я чертовски готовы или не знать об этом? Черт, Сергей, я провел последние семьдесят-гребаный-четырех лет интересно, если у меня есть семья там, а ты не пришел и не сказал мне, что моя сестра Наташа? "

"Do not make excuses, Sergei! As you can clearly see, I am quite assimilated among my peers. And who the hell are you to decide whether I'm fucking ready or not to know this? Shit, Sergei, I've spent the last seventy-fucking-four years wondering if I have family out there, and you do not come and tell me that my sister is Natasha?"

"When? When did you tell them? When did you чертовски решили разбить вашу клятву секретности, и пусть все знают об этом?"

"When? When did you tell them? When did you hell decided to break your oath of secrecy, and let everyone know about it?"

папа медведь- papa bear

Сергей Никитин- Sergei Nikitin. Yes, I know that there are two ways of spelling it, but I'm sticking with the i-version.

Спасибо, Наташа- thank you

A/N: So, I was hoping to get the music boxes in this chapter but, it was too long. They'll be in the next one, promise! R&R, please! And, I apologize again for updating this over a month late. Blame it on school!


	7. Christmas presents

This is the continuation of the Christmas chapter.

_Two weeks later_

_Lower Manhattan_

_Katya's POV_

It's been two weeks since Natasha and I talked in the music room and the huge fight with Sergei. Since then, I've avoided Sergei and stuck closely with Phil, Clint or Natasha whenever I need to go to HQ. I've also become closer to all of the Avengers and the others living in the Tower. Steve, Natasha and I spar in the gym together whenever we get the chance; Clint's been teaching how to shoot a bow and arrow; and Bruce has helped me modify my poison darts to make them more concealable and easier to shoot. Whenever I'm in need of some girl time, I hang out with Pepper and Jane. And when I need to laugh my ass off, I help Tony and Loki with pranks. Thor is always there like an older brother to regale me with tales of Asgard and some of the Avengers' heroics. I've gotten used to Chaplain High as well. Knowing the school principal is a definite plus, but I always make sure that nobody else but my friends know that. Frau Schmidt and Monsieur DuPont have upped the pressure in preparing for the Christmas recital. Having perfect pitch is definitely an advantage now. I don't have to spend so much time on memorizing the music and concentrate on technique. And surprisingly, Krissy and her posse have left us alone, for now at least. Now it's Thanksgiving Break and I need to go shopping for Christmas gifts for my friends and the Avengers and company. It was pretty easy shopping for my friends; Elizabeth has had her eyes on a new edition of Bach's compositions for cello; Derek kept losing his mittens and he doesn't have a scarf; and Peter and Harry have been eyeing the new computer game that Stark Industries came out with recently. Surprisingly, Gwen and MJ are die-hard _Les Miserables_ fans and have waited forever to get their hands on the 25th anniversary concert DVD, their words, not mine. First, I go to a music store where I had bought all of my music equipment over the summer. After digging around for 10 minutes, I come up victorious with two 25th anniversary concert DVDs. I then move to the shelves to find Elizabeth's music book. Soon, I take the two DVDs and the music book up to the register to pay. Minutes later, I walk out of the store to go across the street to a clothing store. I look around for a few minutes and find a pair of suitable mittens and an emerald green scarf. Peter and Harry's video games are back at the Tower. Stark was puffed with pride when he found that two of my guy friends are obsessed with his video games. He gave the video games to me for free. I rolled my eyes; the boys really didn't need to give Tony any more reason to be arrogant. Of course, I couldn't tell them that seeing as how they only know that I live with my older sister, Natalie Romanov who's frequently out of the country. Technically, it is true, but I also have the rest of the Avengers, Phil, Pepper, Jane and Rhodey as housemates as well. After buying Derek his mittens and scarf, I stroll down the street, thinking about what I could get the Avengers. _The gifts will have to be special, seeing as how they've accepted me as part of the family_, I think. Suddenly, I see an antique shop that looks interesting. I head in for a look. The inside of the shop is very homely, it has tons of knick-knacks on the shelves and there are a bunch of wind charms hanging from the ceiling. As I look around, a grandfatherly man emerges from the back room.

"Oh, Ciao! What can I do for you, young lady?" the grandfather asks with an Italian accent. (Sorry it's so bad! But, I don't know how to write an Italian accent.)

"Ciao! Sto bene, sto solo cercando alcuni regali di Natale."

"Sai italiano?"

"Sì, fluente. Spero che non ti dispiaccia me parlando in italiano."

"No, naturalmente non perdere..."

"Oh, mi dispiace. Il mio nome è Katya."

"E io sono Giovanni. E 'bello vedere un giovane capace di parlare ad un italiano fluente."

"Grazie."

"Ora, hai detto che stavi cercando qualcosa di speciale. Chi è il fortunato?"

"Oh, non è così. Recentemente ho riunito con alcuni membri della famiglia che ho pensato che non avrei mai più rivisto. Voglio dare loro qualcosa per mostrare la mia felicità."

"Hmm, credo di avere la cosa giusta." Giovanni ducks behind the counter. He pops back up a moment later with a beautifully decorated box.

"Che cosa è?" I ask.

"Una musica scatola." He proceeds to turn the little handle on the side of the box. Suddenly, I hear a tinkling melody come out of the box and the lid opens to reveal a little ballerina girl twirling in a circle. As I examine the box closer, I'm amazed at the detail. The ballerina has her own face and her tutu feels real. The background shows that it's a scene from _The Nutcracker_. Even the lid is beautifully handcrafted.

"Beh, che ne pensi?"

"E 'incredibile," I breathe. "Ma, vorrei fare uno solo. Mi puoi insegnare?"

"Certo, ma non preoccupatevi di pagare me. E 'di pagamento basta vedere una giovane come si prende il tempo per fare regali per la tua familia," I sheepishly pull my hand out of my coat pocket. I _had_ been thinking about paying him.

"Posso venire domani? Devo ancora pensare a idee e disegnare fuori."

"Certo, io sarò qui." And with that, we shook hands on it. I left shop after buying a wind charm to compensate for him spending so much time on me. He argued, saying that I didn't have to but, I insisted. That evening, I sat at my desk, thinking of ideas. I suddenly had a light bulb moment and set to work drawing things out.

_The next morning_

_Avengers' Tower; Steve's POV _**(Fluff incoming!)**

I stretch my arms in the early morning light. Tony is lying across my stomach, using my chest as a pillow. I chuckle quietly and ruffle his hair.

"Steve, it's too early," he mumbles.

"I have to get up, Tony. I need to take a shower after you kept me up all last night," I say laughing. Tony lifts his head up a bit and cracks his eyes open to look at me. I smile softly at the man who's successfully captured the heart of America's Golden Boy.

"Oh, all right. But, make it quick. The bed gets cold without you." And with that, he rolls over then, shifts so that he faces the bathroom. I get up and pad over to the bathroom. After 10 minutes, I walk back out, clean and nice-smelling. Drying my hair with a towel, I see Tony getting up as well. I pick out a pair jeans and a plaid Monte Carlo pullover. Tony drags on his customary outfit of jeans and a Black Sabbath shirt. I can't help tucking my finger under his chin and bring his lips to mine. They feel so soft under my own. Tony breaks the chaste kiss and wraps his arms around my waist.

"Hey, Cap? It's almost Christmas. Is there anything you want?"

"No, but I was wondering what we should get Katya."

"Hmm, I think we should talk it over with the rest of the team. What do you think?" He looks up at me. I smile softly at him and wonder at the change that Katya has brought to us all. We all feel very protective of her; especially Natasha. She's been trying really hard to fulfill the promise that she made 74 years ago. She helps Katya with her homework when she can and the two spend time together as much as possible. As the two of us step out of our room, we meet Loki who apparently took the stairs in favor of the elevator.

"Hey, Reindeer Games!" Tony smirks.

"And good morning to you, too, Stark," Loki says with a slight smirk. We take the elevator up to the kitchen where we meet the others just coming in. As we all sit down, Katya turns around with a pan full of bacon. She dishes the bacon out to every person. We all dig in and there are pancakes on the table as well as maple, blueberry and strawberry syrup.

"MMM! These are amazing. Lady Katya, you have superb cooking skills!" praises Thor.

"It's nothing much. I only know the basics of cooking." Breakfast then turns to everyday things; errands and news from the workplace. As we finish up, Katya speaks up, "Oh, just so you guys know, I'm going to be out for the whole day so eat lunch without me. I can get lunch on my own and yes, Natasha and Bruce, I'll be careful. And before you ask Phil, I have enough money on me and I'll call you guys once I'm done." The 11 adults laugh at how she was able to guess what they worried about.

"What are you doing?" Loki asks, looking as innocent as possible.

"Hmm-mmm, I'm not telling you. It'll ruin the surprise."

"Now, you HAVE to tell us. You've got us interested!" Tony exclaims.

"Nope, but I will say that it's your Christmas gifts," she says, putting her dishes in the sink. "Now, I've really got to get going! _Ciao, _guys!" Katya runs to the elevator with her black purse, which I assume has her iPod, headphones, wallet with money and phone in it. Tony's left high and dry with his mouth hanging open and halfway out of his seat. We all laugh at that.

_In a taxi cab to Lower Manhattan_

_Katya's POV_

_'Whew_,' I think as I slide into the cab that I managed to hail a block away from Avengers Tower '_that was way too close for comfort.'_ I take out the address that Giovanni gave me the other day and tell the cab driver to go to Lower Manhattan. As the driver starts to pull away from the curb, I sit back and watch the New York lights pass by.

_Giovanni's Antique Shop_

The little bell above the door rings as I walk in to the shop. Giovanni greets me warmly and asks if I have any ideas.

"Qui ci sono le mie idee." I hand him my drawings. As he looks them over, I see the ballerina music box from yesterday. I study it closely and try and see if I can figure out how it works. I hear quiet chuckling. I turn to look at Giovanni.

"Non sarà in grado di capirlo, Katya. Tuoi quadri sono meravigliosi per la via."

"Grazie."

"Presumo che si desidera mettere la musica in te stesso così come i dipinti e le decorazioni."

"Wha—how do you know that?" I'm so shocked that I slip back in to English. Giovanni chuckles and he explains that my drawings were perfect, meaning that I most likely don't want anyone but myself doing them. He also saw the song choices that I had scribbled on the back of each drawing.

Sheepishly, I say, "Spero che non ti dispiaccia, Giovanni."

"No, no va bene, Katya." He comes out with five plain, wooden boxes. For the next two hours, he teaches me the basics of making a music box. We take a short break then, he starts teaching me how to put the music in. I try it on my own with the ballerina music box and get it after the 5th try*. After that, he leaves me on my own in the back room so I can work in peace. After finalizing my drawings, I take a break for lunch. After lunch, I hit the workbench and start on the music boxes' exteriors. I've already decided to start on Tony and Steve's first then, work my way from there. After I finish carving the exterior, I work on the interior. I painstakingly carve out the designs and the figurines. Mini-Tony and Mini-Steve are then glued to the disk in the center of the box. Before I know it, it's already late afternoon and I have to get back or else the others would worry. I make sure that each music box is safely stored away then, I bid Giovanni farewell.

For the rest of Thanksgiving Break and in the days leading up to Christmas Break, I work on the music boxes every free minute that I get. After two weeks of agonizing over each individual piece, I decide to see if I can get professional advice from Thor and Loki's parents. If I couldn't, I have backup pieces, but they wouldn't sound as authentic.

_Meanwhile_

_3rd person POV_

Ever since Katya pretty much told them that they were getting Christmas presents from her, they've been worrying about what to get _her_. There were so many suggestions that, in the end, they decided to see if she would give them clues or not. One morning 2 weeks before Christmas, they're sitting at the breakfast table when Katya suddenly squeals.

"OH MY FUCKING GOD! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!"

"What?! What's wrong?!" everybody yells. They rush to her side and look at the newspaper in her hands.

"Well, what is it?" Loki asks impatiently.

"It's _Les Miserables_! They're making a movie! Well, they're already done and it's showing on Christmas!" She squeals excitedly. Loki and Tony look annoyed while Bruce raises his eyebrow. Natasha, Phil and Clint, however, look like they are having a light bulb moment. As Katya is having her fan girl moment, the three old friends discreetly look at the show times and where it's going to be held. Phil also sees that _The Hobbit_ will also be still be up during Winter Break and makes a mental plan to surprise everyone with tickets. Surprisingly, everyone is a fan but, there wasn't enough time to introduce Katya to the LOTR trilogy during the summer. Later, when Katya has already left the Tower, the Avengers, their handler, Pepper, Rhodey and Jane all gather in the living room.

"Well, Hawkeye, what was with that 'light bulb moment' you were having with Red, and Agent Austringer?"

Clint rolls his eyes at Tony's nicknames but, answers, "If you guys hadn't noticed, Katya was having a serious fan girl moment. I propose that we get tickets to the movie and surprise her." The others nodded in agreement.

"Clint, you said tickets, I assume we're going to be watching the movie as well?" Pepper asks, taking out her phone to get ready to reserve tickets for the movie. Clint nods and Pepper proceeds to get the tickets.

"So," Steve says, "What is _Les Miserables_ about?"

_Meanwhile in Giovanni's shop_

"Finally! I'm done!" Katya shouts. Giovanni looks at her painted music boxes and feels proud at knowing such a talented young woman. The two make sure that each music box is packed carefully into unmarked packages with only the initials of the receivers to differentiate them. Katya thanks Giovanni profusely and buys a pocket watch for Fury and a bracelet for Maria. Leaving the shop, she hails down a taxi to take her back to the Tower.

Katya spends the remaining two weeks slaving over school. She gets all of the assignments up to the end of Winter Break done, thereby freeing up her Winter Break. Tony and Pepper start to plan for his annual Stark Christmas Ball, which takes place 3 days before Christmas.

"So, I don't HAVE to go to the Ball, but if I don't go, then I have to stay in my room all night long."

"Yep," Tony says, he and Katya currently cleaning out the ball room a floor below the penthouse** for said event that evening. "Natasha doesn't want to expose you to the media this soon and the rest of us agree." Wiping the dust off her hands, she puts her hands on her hips and surveys the now-empty room.

"Hmm, I think we're about done. I'll see you guys tomorrow!" She waves her hand while walking away.

"Well, I guess that's one way to agree," he says, going up to his room to get ready.

Later that evening, the Avengers, Pepper, Rhodey and Jane show up in the ballroom dressed to the nines. Pepper wears a floor-length, cherry red dress with silver straps, and her hair is pin-straight; Jane has a floor-length, strapless, pink dress with her hair in a bun; and Natasha is wearing a floor-length, mermaid style, strapless, royal blue dress with an encrusted bodice and her red hair in curls***. The boys, suffice to say, were quite shocked into silence, other than Loki, of course.

"Ladies, looking lovely tonight." Pepper and Natasha roll their eyes playfully and Jane thanks him.

"Wow, Tasha! Where did you get that dress?" Clint asks.

"Uptown," the Russian says simply. She walks over and gives Bruce a chaste kiss on the lips. "Hey, handsome."

"Hey, yourself. You look amazing!"

"Thanks, you cut a suit very nicely as well." Bruce is wearing a traditional black and white tux, as are Phil, Clint, Thor and Steve. Tony and Loki, however, REFUSE to follow the norm. Tony has on a silver suit that SCREAMS Stark and Loki's tux is reminiscent of the one that he wore in Stuttgart. He even has a walking stick. Pepper raises her eyebrow at this, and Rhodey answers her unspoken question.

"Stark and Loki made a bet as to how many girls would flock around him tonight. Stark says half the room while, Loki says one-third."

"And you?"

"Nuh-uh, no way am I going to bet against either of them. I would definitely lose." Loki smiles at this while Stark snorts, saying, "Hell, yeah!" They chat for a bit more, then Stark deems it appropriate to make their grand entrance.

Meanwhile, up in her room, Katya is busy wrapping each music box. First, though, she asks JARVIS to stop videotaping, though he could still give her advice if she asks for it. She was able to find an American-themed box for Steve and Tony, a red and gold one for Thor and Jane, a red and silver one for Pepper and Rhodey, a green and gold box for Loki, a black and purple one Phil and Clint, and a plain one that she wants to decorate herself for Bruce and Natasha. She stays up until 11:30 to get Steve and Tony's done, as well as Pepper and Rhodey's. She'll work on Jane and Thor's, Loki's and Bruce and Natasha's tomorrow. Stretching, she gets up to shower and ready for bed.

The next morning, she wakes up early to get back to the music boxes. She knows that for Thor, Jane's and Loki's music boxes, she wants authentic pieces of Asgardian music. Suddenly, she hears Loki pass her room. Quickly, she packs up the two music boxes, along with carving, painting and music supplies in one bag. She opens the door and sticks her head out, Loki looks like he's going somewhere. _Shit, I think that might be the Bifrost! _Acting quickly, she calls on her martial arts training and slinks and glides among the shadows. She successfully manages to get onto the Bifrost with the infamous Trickster while only rousing his interest just a bit. Soon, she and Loki are whisked away to Asgard. Upon arriving at the gates of Asgard, Katya manages to hitch a ride with one of the unsuspecting deities sent to take him into the palace. As Loki greet his adoptive parents, Katya sneaks off to find the music room.

"What brings you here, my son?" Frigga asks.

"Mother, I've come to ask for your help. As you know, Natasha was reunited with her sister half a year ago. I would like to get her something special for her first Christmas."

"Well, I think there might be something she might like in the music room. Come, we'll go and look." Loki follows Odin and Frigga to the music room.

Katya was able to sneak past the guards and the lords and ladies of the court. _However, I don't think my ears will able to recover from the shrillness._ She shudders, remembering how the ladies' voices sounded like nails on a chalkboard. She slips into the music room and starts investigating. Suddenly, she hears voices and footsteps coming down the hallway. _Shit! I need to hide!_ Diving quickly behind one of the columns, she pulls her bag out of sight. Seconds later, the double doors open and she sees Loki with an older couple. _They must be Odin and Frigga. I wonder if I can get one of them to help me._ Quietly, she crawls to the column that gives her an excellent view of the room. Taking advantage of Loki and Odin's distracted state, she catches Frigga's attention. Motioning with her hands, Katya mimes out that she wants to Frigga alone. Catching on, the queen turns toward her husband and son.

"Loki, dear, why don't you leave the gift-picking to me? I'm sure your father has a lot that he wants to tell you."

"Are you sure? I can help…"

"It's fine, dear. Really." With that, the two men leave the room. The minute the coast is clear, Frigga motions to Katya to come out.

"Young lady, I do hope you know that it is extremely foolish to go behind my son's back and sneak in here like this," she scolds.

Katya smiles playfully, "Sorry your majesty, but I can't let Loki OR any of our friends know that I came here today. You see, I'm making them music boxes for Christmas and I want to have some authentic pieces of Asgardian music for Loki's music box, as well as Thor and Jane's music box. Will you help me?"

"Well," Frigga contemplates, tapping her finger on her chin, "I'll help but, don't expect me to keep this a secret if Loki asks."

"Thank you, your highness!" Katya curtsies gratefully.

"Now, let's get to work. Do you have an idea of what to use?"

"Yes, for Thor and Jane's, I was thinking of "Here comes the Bride", remixed with some of Thor's favorite Asgardian songs when he was younger. For Loki, I am thinking of remixing his favorite songs together." While Katya is talking of her ideas and gesturing with her hands around, Frigga is silently contemplating the intriguing girl. _I can tell she's very passionate about music. And from what Thor and Loki have told me through their letters, she didn't have the best childhood. Yet, she is as kind, if not kinder, than even some of the ladies here._

"That's wonderful, Katya. I think I have just pieces for you. Let me get them for you." The queen walks over to the table next to the instrument that looks like a pianoforte. She picks up several sheets of music and gives them to Katya. The Russian girl looks them over, getting more and more excited by the minute.

"Yes! This is exactly what I need! Thank you so much, your highness!" She quickly sits down next to her bag and sets to work getting the music put in. 3 hours later, she finishes putting the music in. She then starts on carving the designs on the exteriors and interiors. Another 3 hours pass and soon, night falls on Asgard. Loki has already left hours earlier with his gift for Katya in hand. Frigga comes back to see the young girl finished with the music boxes and curled up in one of the chairs. Smiling and chuckling quietly, she packs up Katya's things and transports Katya to her room in the Avengers' Tower. After setting the bag next to the desk, she tucks Katya in. Katya rolls over and opens her sleepy eyes,

"Thank…you again, for…letting…me borrow *yawns* the music room," she mumbles.

"No worries, little one. Go to sleep now." The girl nods happily and burrows further under the covers. Frigga smiles and steps out to find her two sons. Upon walking into the living room, she finds her sons and their friends have gathered around the table with distraught expressions on all of them.

"My goodness, what's the matter here?" she inquires.

"Mother," the princes cry out, jumping up, "is there something wrong with Father?" Thor runs to Frigga's side, guiding her to a seat while Loki gets a cup of tea.

Jokingly, she says, "What, so every time I appear, it's because your father is in danger?"

"No, of course that isn't what we meant. It's just a surprise to see you, that's all," Thor says.

"It's fine, boys. Now, what seems to be the matter?"

"It's Katya, your majesty," Steve answers quietly, "We haven't seen her all day long and we're worried that something might've happened to her."

"Oh," Frigga says, understanding "well, you have no reason to fear for her safety. I can personally vouch that she was safe all day. She worked so hard, getting your music boxes just right. In fact, I just tucked her into bed."

"WHAT?!" Everybody jumps to their feet.

"Shush, you'll wake her up!" Frigga admonishes them. They all sit back down. Natasha drops her head into her hands.

"I just wish that she would've told us, at the least she should've said where she was going." At this moment, JARVIS speaks up,

"Agent Romanov, Ms. Katya wanted me to tell you that if she had said where she was going, then sir would've pestered her to death. Frankly, I agree with her."

"Oi! That's not fair! JARVIS, you're supposed to be on my side."

"Tony, I think we can all agree that you have enough ego to constitute one side," Bruce jokes. Tony just sits back, grumbling but, with a slight tilt to his mouth. Steve wraps his arms around his boyfriend, squeezing his shoulders. Everybody chuckles and after a few minutes, Frigga is escorted out by everybody. Thor, Jane and Loki promise her that they'll visit as soon as possible. After Frigga leaves, everybody goes to bed after a worrisome day.

The next morning, Katya receives quite a scolding from the adults.

"Ok, I'm sorry, it won't happen again. Besides, this was a special case. I really need these boxes to be special," she explains.

Curiously, Tony asks, "How special?"

"Would hand-making these things and hand-picking out the decorations and the music suffice?" she smirks, eerily reminiscent of her older sister. The adults just stare at her, almost all of them with their mouths hanging open. Except for Natasha and Loki, of course. Their eyebrows, though, seems to have retreated into their hair. Satisfied, Katya turns around and walks back to her room.

"Oh, FYI, if any of you decide to sneak in and see what I'm doing, I'll have JARVIS zap you. But, only because I'm going to be too busy." She retreats back into her room.

Chuckling, Natasha turns around, "Close your mouths guys or you're going to catch flies." She walks into the living room and turns on the TV.

"Wait, so you're not going to do anything?" Tony asks.

"Stark, did you _not_ just notice that Katya acting just like Natasha when she has a secret? Damn, Nat, you never said that Katya was _that_ good!" Clint looks just a tad bit terrified.

The former assassin turns around, smirking, "That's because she asked me and Steve to keep it a secret for her. Can't have our secret weapon be known by our enemies, now can we?"

"_Steve_ knows about this?!" Tony exclaims.

The first Avenger just shrugs his shoulders, getting another cup of coffee. "We sometimes have all-out matches and the sweet, compassionate girl suddenly transforms into a killer. It's really scary."

Meanwhile, in her room, Katya is busy carving, painting and putting in the music for Bruce and Natasha's music box. She finishes a little after lunch, having worked right through said meal. Stretching, she gets up to wash her hands and goes to the kitchen to whip up a late lunch. After lunch, she goes back to her room to wrap up her sister and, hopefully, future brother-in-law's music box. _Those two seriously need to get hitched. I'll have to talk to Clint and Phil. Maybe, Loki and Pepper as well._ After wrapping, she goes to the living room to help with putting up the Christmas tree. Everybody has a lot of fun and for the finishing touch, Loki helps Katya up to put the star on. Later, in the early hours of Christmas Day, Katya quietly gets up and takes the wrapped presents and puts them under the Christmas tree. She then sneaks back to her room.

_Christmas Morning_

Katya suddenly wakes up to hear Clint and Tony acting like maniacs. She rolls over and groans,

"JARVIS, what in fucking hell is going on?"

"It seems that Mr. Barton-Coulson and Sir have decided to wake the Tower up to a rather noisy Christmas morning," the AI reports.

Grumbling, she gets up to get ready for the day, donning a jade green sweater and a pair of black velvet pants. Going into the living room, she sees the adults gathered around the kitchen table.

"Morning, everyone."

"Hey, Katya! Merry Christmas!" Clint exclaims. Katya finally takes a good at the archer and Tony, who's sitting next to him. They're both wearing ridiculous hats that look similar to the ones she's seen in commercials. And their sweaters are some of the ugliest she's ever seen. They're even worse than Mrs. Weasley's hand-made sweaters! She chokes back her laughter and gets a cup of tea. "So, who wants to open Christmas presents?" the inventor asks, literally bouncing in his seat like a little boy. Katya rolls her eyes playfully. Everybody gets up and walks over to the living room and Loki brings in the gifts with his magic. He distributes each gift to the receiver. Katya gets three presents while the others get their designated music box.

"So, who's going first?"

"Let's go clockwise," Steve says. First up is Steve and Tony. Katya looks excited and a little nervous at the same time as Steve takes the lid off the American-themed box and hands the card to Tony. Gasps are heard throughout the circle as the WWII veteran carefully takes out the music box. It's royal blue with dark cherry red on the edges and legs. There are carved white stars scattered throughout the surface of the box. Taking a quick count, Rhodey sees that there are fifty stars. On the lid, there is a gold circle with the initials "T.S. & S.R." engraved on it.

"I hope you like it," Katya says nervously, "I wasn't sure what to paint it, and so I decided to combine both of your favorites."

"It's beautiful, Katya. Thank you." Tony opens the card and reads it out loud, "Dear Steve and Tony, I hope you like the music box. Steve, thank you so much for being one of the best sparring partners I've ever had. And I really don't want to say this, as it'll inflate your ego even more, but, you were right, Tony, pranking is definitely a skill all its own. Hope you guys have a wonderful Christmas! Katya. P.S. Hope you like the music selection." Curiosity aroused, Steve turns the key in the keyhole. Suddenly, the lid of the box opens up to reveal a Mini-Steve and a Mini-Tony dancing to a piece that has elements of both Frank Sinatra and Black Sabbath rolled into one. The scene behind them is that of a 1940s club. As the song ends and the lid closes, Tony and Steve take one look at each other, carefully placing the music box to the side and tackling Katya, tickling her for all she's worth.

"Hahahaha! Guys…guys, stop! Stop! Help!" she laughs. They let up, hugging Katya tightly. They both whisper "Thank you" to her then, return to their seats. The rest of the adults aren't in much better shape, either. All the women look moved beyond words, while the men all have smiles on their faces. "All right, who's next?" Katya asks. The next couple up is Pepper and Rhodey. Rhodey hands the card to Pepper and opens the present. Their music box is similarly themed with carved white stars, except it has dark cherry wood as the main color and silver on the edges and legs. On the lid, there's a similar engraving, this time with Pepper's and Rhodey's initials. Pepper turns the key, and as the lid opens, they can hear strains from Zefferilli's _Romeo and Juliet_'s theme, _What is A Youth?_ The figurines in the middle look like they're in the middle of the waltz. On the back of the lid, the famous Stark ballroom is pictured perfectly. When the song ends, Pepper has to wipe her eyes and Rhodey looks like he has to hold back his own tears. Opening the card, Pepper reads it out loud, "Dear Pepper and Rhodey, you guys are some of the best people that I've known. I don't know what I did to be able to know you guys, but I'm grateful that I did whatever it was. Take care of each other and have a great Christmas! Katya." They both thank Katya profusely for the gift and she looks a little embarrassed at the attention. Phil opens the box while handing the card to Clint. Clint reads the card out loud, "Dear Phil and Clint, I have no idea what to write. All I can say is I can't thank you two enough for giving my sister that second chance and allowing her to wipe out her ledger. Best wishes, Katya." Deeply moved, the husbands give Katya tight hugs and whispered thanks. When the lid is taken off, everybody gazes in wonderment. The box is painted black with purple edges and bottom and has engraved golden hawk feathers scattered around it. The engraving says "P.B.C & C.B.C". Phil turns the key and strains of Radiohead and Ne-Yo's "Let me Love You (Until You learn to Love Yourself)" mashed together drift out as the lid opens to reveal the beach at dawn. Mini-Phil and Mini-Clint are dancing along the waves, with not a care in the world.

"It's beautiful, Katya. Thank you so much," Phil says, hugging the girl tightly. She smiles and pulls back. Wiping her tears, she motions to Thor and Jane. Thor opens the box as Jane reads the card,

"Dear Thor and Jane, you two are perfect for each other. End of story. Take care and have a great Christmas! Katya."

"Thank you, Katya." She waves away their gratitude and motions for them to take out the music box. The edges and legs are painted gold while the box itself is a dark ruby red. On the lid, there are carved white lilies, Jane's favorite flower as well as the symbol of the royal Asgardian family****, scattered around. The engraving says "T.O. & J.F." When they turn the key, the lid opens to reveal the mini-versions of said couple dancing in the Asgardian Royal Ballroom to what sounds like Asgardian music and "Here Comes the Bride" mashed together.

"So, _this_ iswhat Frigga meant by you working hard on the boxes," Clint says.

"I should've guessed that was you. Mother doesn't usually send me off with Father unless there's something important that she wants to do by herself," Loki chuckles, "Though, I'm quite impressed you were able to get past me and still find the music room in that maze." Katya shrugs, as if it were nothing. Loki takes off the lid of his present box and takes out the music box. The music box is similarly themed to Thor and Jane's, with emerald green and gold instead of red and gold. White lilies are carved on to the top of the lid as well as the sides. The engraving says "L.O." When he opens the music box, Loki hears his favorite lullabies mashed together drift out. The figurine is shown in the training area, decked out in armor, complete with the destiny stick. The artist seems to have caught Loki in mid-attack and captured him in all his terrifying glory. Loki smiles, quite pleased at how he appears. Setting the music box down, he opens the card and reads it out loud, "Dear Loki, thank you for inviting me in on some of your pranks. I really needed those laughs! Take care of yourself and please try not to get into _too_ much trouble. Best wishes, Katya." "Thank you for the gift, Katya," Loki says. She nods, relieved that Loki seems to like his present. Bruce and her sister, Natasha, are last. The spy takes the present box in hand and closely examines it. The present box itself is emerald green for Bruce with a red ribbon tying it closed for Natasha. The card that is taped to the box, however, is what interests Natasha the most. She takes the card out and opens it. She reads it out loud, "Dear Natasha and Bruce, first off, Bruce you have to take good care of my sister. She's all I have left. Second, you two are perfect for each other and better get hitched soon, because I WILL NOT stand for the nervous glances that you are giving each other. It's driving me insane. Third, Natasha, I really hope you enjoy this next piece and you better recognize it. С Рождеством Христовым! Katya." Natasha rolls her eyes but, can't help sneaking a look at her lover, who has a slight blush creeping up on his neck. Smiling softly, she presses a quick kiss to his cheek then, turns to open the present box.

"_Bozhe Moi_!" she exclaims in wonderment. Everybody leans in to see the music box. It's beautifully decorated with a light sapphire blue background and jade green edges and legs. All around the box, there are carved golden eagle feathers. The engraving on the lid says "N.R. & B.B." Natasha takes the key and turns it in the keyhole. She gasps as she hears the opening notes to her mother's колыбельная remixed in a totally new way. The lid opens to reveal her and Bruce dancing in one of the ballrooms in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Bruce in a tux and Natasha dressed in a royal ball gown. Katya suddenly kneels before her and starts singing the words,

_On the wind, cross the sea_

_Hear this song and remember._

_Soon you'll be, home with me._

_Once upon a December_

"You…you remember…the lullaby. колыбельная матери," She stammers.

"Of course I remember," her sister says, tearing up. "It was the only thing that kept me going all those years." As the lullaby ends and the lid closes, the two sisters hug each other tightly, silent tears streaming down their faces. Bruce lays a comforting hand on his lover's back. Parting, the sisters wipe their cheeks and both Natasha and Bruce offer their heartfelt thanks to her. Nobody comments on the eagle feathers, the colors or her choice of music. Natasha knows that the eagle feathers, the blue background and the lullaby are a subtle way to honor their family.

"Now, you need to open _your _presents," Loki says. Katya feels her jaw drop slightly open.

"You guys got me…_presents_?"

Tony rolls his eyes while Phil and Clint chuckle, "Uh, duh, we got you presents. It would've made us look bad if we didn't give you something."

"It's fine, Катя," Natasha assures her. She nods, taking the first present that's in a pretty little purple bag. Reaching her hand in, she takes out 12 tickets to _Les Miserables_.

"Bozhe moi! I…I can't…I don't…Thank you," she finally decides on the most heartfelt thanks that she can give.

"Don't worry about it, it's the least we could give you, especially now that you've given us these beautiful gifts," Steve says. Katya nods, continuing to hold the tickets to her chest and squealing excitedly. The next present up is Loki's. She opens the box to find 5 compositions worth of complicated, transcribed piano music, as well as 8 shiny, new knives.

"What…I… don't know what to say," she stammers.

"Thank you would be nice," Loki teases.

"Then, thank you, thank you very much," she says gratefully. She carefully sets the box on the coffee table, making sure that it wouldn't fall, and then turns toward her last present. This one is from Natasha and has a card attached to the bag. Katya opens the card and upon finding it written in Russian, she reads it silently first, then translates it, "Katya, I've held onto this locket for over half a century to remember you by. Now that you're back, the locket should be returned to its rightful owner. Hold on to it and treasure it forever. Natasha." The adults tear up as Katya reads the card. She puts the card down and takes out a beautifully crafted white gold oval-shaped locket with two star-shaped alexandrite jewels embedded into the surface. Jane and Pepper gape in amazement and Natasha looks at her with pride. Katya opens the locket to reveal a black-and-white photograph of her parents, Natasha and herself when she was just a baby.

"The photo was taken half a month after you were born," Natasha explains. Katya nods and hugs her sister tightly in thanks.

"Could you… help me with the clasp?" she asks her older sister. Looking amazed, Natasha nods. Once finished, the two sisters wipe their eyes.

"I think I've cried enough to last for the next year," Katya jokes to break the awed silence. Everyone laughs and Phil pulls out his extra Christmas present to everyone.

"I've got tickets to go and see _The Hobbit_ if you guys want to come."

Clint and Natasha just gape at him in shock, "What do you mean _if_?! Of course we want to go; there _is _no _if _about it!" The rest of them just laugh. They gather their presents and get ready for a day at the movies.

A/N: Sorry for not being able to update this sooner! As you can tell it's a REALLY long chapter. Or at least it is on Word. Digressing, I probably won't be able to update before Chinese New Year's, which is this Sunday, OR Valentine's Day, which is next Thursday. So, don't be surprised if you find my Chinese New Year's and Valentine's Day chapters coming up a month late. Toodles! P.S. excuse the writing in some parts of the chapter, I was doing this and homework at the same time most of the time!

*I have absolutely no idea how you build a music box, so if I make a mistake, please don't kill me!

**I also have no idea what the real floor plans of the Tower are, these are all my own imaginings.

***If you want to see what the girls' dresses look like, you can check them out on my profile. I have the links there. The hair designs might not be exact, though.

****So, in my story, white lilies are the royal flowers of the Asgardian royal family. I'm pretty sure Odin and everybody else has their own flower, but I needed something that would represent _them_, as a family. Don't sue me.

Translations (Olive Green is Italian. FYI, the first parts are always going to be in the native language. The second part will be the English translations.)

"Ciao! Sto bene, sto solo cercando alcuni regali di Natale."

"Lei parla italiano?"

"Sì, fluente. Spero che non ti dispiaccia me parlando in italiano."

"No, naturalmente non perdere..."

"Oh, mi dispiace. Il mio nome è Katya."

"E io sono Giovanni. E 'bello vedere una giovane donna capace di parlare ad un italiano fluente."

"Grazie."

"Ora, hai detto che stavi cercando qualcosa di speciale. Chi è il fortunato?"

"Oh, non è così. Recentemente ho riunito con alcuni membri della famiglia che ho pensato che non avrei mai più rivisto. Voglio dare loro qualcosa per mostrare la mia felicità."

"Hmm, credo di avere la cosa giusta."

"Hello! I'm fine; I'm just looking for some Christmas gifts. "

"You speak Italian?"

"Yes, fluently, I hope you do not mind me speaking in Italian. "

"No, of course not, Miss ..."

"Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Katya. "

"And I'm Giovanni. It's nice to see a young woman able to speak such fluent Italian. "

"Thank you."

"Now, you said you were looking for something special. Who's the lucky guy? "

"Oh, it is not. I recently reunited with some family members that I thought I would never see again. I want to give them something to show my happiness. "

"Hmm, I think I have the right thing." Giovanni ducks behind the counter. He pops back up a moment later with a beautifully decorated box.

"What is it?" I ask.

"A music box."

"Well, what do you think?"

"It's amazing," I breathe. "But I want to make one. Can you teach me? "

"Sure, but do not worry about paying me. It's payment enough to see a young woman like you take the time to make gifts for your family,"

"Can I come tomorrow? I have yet to think of ideas and draw out. "

"Sure, I'll be here."

"Qui ci sono le mie idee."

"Non sarà in grado di capirlo, Katya. Tuoi quadri sono meravigliosi per la via."

"Grazie."

"Presumo che si desidera mettere la musica in te stesso così come i dipinti e le decorazioni."

"Here are my ideas."

"You will not be able to understand it, Katya. Your paintings are wonderful by the way."

"Thank you."

"I assume you want to put the music in yourself as well as paintings and decorations."

"Spero che non ti dispiaccia, Giovanni."

"No, no va bene, Katya."

"I hope you don't mind, Giovanni."

"No, no it's fine, Katya."

колыбельная матери- mother's lullaby


End file.
